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Monday, December 31, 2007

Its seems to me as I get older, the years just fly by faster and faster..............I remember wishing years away.......if only I were 16 I could drive, if only I were 19, I could get into the clubs legally (hee hee!) if only, if only, if only.....

And now my thoughts are more predisposed to thinking if only time would slow down.......I need more time to feel the soft skin of my baby against my cheek, if only I could relive the feeling I got witnessing his expression the first time his toes touched the dewy grass.....if I could rewind the clock just a little to take back something negative that I had said or just to spend some more with the special people in my life.........and now the time has come to embark upon another year................my sweet smelling cherub sporting hummer cologne and prepubescent mood swings........one minute confirming that I am the best mother in the world and in the next breath looking at me like I have a huge horn growing out of my forehead (the "evil" mom!).................all a part of development they say!!! Given a chance, I probably wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't want to be twenty again, especially with this amount of life experience.........I think I would be too sensible to make it worth my while!!!! I still have my memories to cherish.

So I am hopeful that 2008 will bring many new and exciting experiences for me and you. No resolutions for me. I am just going to try my best to remain diligent in accomplishing what it is that I need to do first and then what I want to do beyond that.

Have a safe and enjoyable evening and here's hoping that the last several hours of 2007 are memorable and lead you into a happy and prosperous New Year.

Card Recipe: Three Rose Image from Hanna Stamps- The roses on this card are burgundy and beautiful in real life, but look so dark in the scan. Sentiment is from the Things that Hanna would say Stamp Set that will be released this Friday.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Valentine's Day is one of my Favourite Holidays. Probably because it usually involves Chocolate......lots of Chocolate..........did I mention that I like Chocolate? Also I love images of hearts.....I love to stamp hearts, doodle hearts and punch hearts out of DP (as you can see in my previous post). I flipped when I saw this cute little heart box of chocolates in the New Hanna Valentine set............isn't it just the sweetest?

I had purchased a box of plain embossed cards in the event that I needed a quick greeting. You can imagine how thrilled I was to find the embossed heart pattern. I watercoloured the main image (which has chocolate written in script on the top of the box) and mounted it on dimensionals on the top layer, which was faux stitched. I then layered red and white to fill the area in the middle of the card. To add a little extra pizzaz, I filled in the outside border of the box with a gold Zig Painty pen and made a little gold border on the heart box. All the little accessories that accompany Hanna's Valentine are just the sweetest!!!! The great thing about this set is that you can use it well beyond Valentines Day. For instance, check out Kristi's Blog to see the sweet baby card that she created.

and ready for the next Holiday! Isn't she a Sweetheart? How do you like her fresh and funky do?

I KNOW that i've said this before and probably will again, but I am sure this is the BEST Hanna set yet!!! Well I probably think so because this set involves Chocolate!!!!

With so many delicious accessories to add to your designs, you won't run out of ideas for her. I have been working diligently in my Stamping Palace this weekend. Stay tuned for new Hanna samples each day until Friday, when Kristi will release her, along with the "Things Hanna Would Say" sentiment set!!!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

FIn just the blink of an eye, Christmas will be here!!! I still am not quite ready, but in my mind, that's okay. I am sure that things will fall into place as they should. I haven't been stamping much this week as I really have been focusing on the things that need to happen, like clearing a path for Santa!!! All the gifts have been purchased. I have to find one more gift that I had stowed away (ever hide something to find that it is forever lost??) and all the presents will be wrapped.

But does this really matter in the bigger scheme of things? I don't think so. What is more important to me is having my small family around me, good health for my parents and a good and happy life for my son.

This week we got a terrible scare. My Father was in an accident on the 401, which is essentially Canada's Trans Canada Highway. He hit some black ice and lost control of the Truck, hitting a Guardrail, spinning back across the road to hit the cement median divider head on. I think that he hit a couple of more times as the back of the Truck was smashed up as well.

His Truck as you can see, was damaged fairly badly. We are not sure if it will be written off, but there is a good possibility. Fortunately, there was a lot of Truck between that cement barrier and my father. Apparently when the airbag went off, it gave him quite a start, but other than that, he came out of the accident unscathed. I am thankful for that. I am thankful that there was no other cars involved. I am glad that the Transport driver that was coming behind him was able to slow down. I am appreciative of the kind men who stopped to ensure that he was all right before they continued on their journey.

So in reflection, if there is a light layer of dust on the bookshelves or a ketchup fingerprint on the fridge............does it REALLY matter????? What matters to me is that I will enjoy another safe Christmas with my Family, my Father safe and sound.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I could tell you that I was totally committed to forging forward with my Christmas chores, I could tell you that being the rebellious one that I can be, that I just said to &%$$ with it and stamped my face off, disregarding the fact that I really NEED to be getting things done.

Well neither is the truth... exactly!!! I actually spent some time getting class projects done and had to do a bit of cleaning to ensure that my stampers weren't bitten by the dust bunnies!!!!

I actually started back to work yesterday after a two month healing hiatus................let me tell I was not prepared for the fact that I would be really really tired when I got home............actually I was getting really really tired by 2:00 p.m. when two of my coworkers stopped in for a chat...............they claim they caught me doing a head nod!!! So here I am home after day 2 exhausted and although I may muster up the teeniest bit of strength to stamp, I pulled this card out of the coffers so that I would keep up with my personal commitment to posting regularly (way better than cleaning commitments, to me they are more like New Years Resolutions Pshaw!!!!!).

Anyway, this card was made very quickly with the soon to be retired Winter Bright Scrapbooking kit. You can view it HERE after December 30th, it will no longer be available.I used the SU! Scallop circle as well as Nestabilities Scallop Circles as a base for the main image, which Hails from It's Snow Time which also retires at the end of the month. A little Double Stitched Wasabi Ribbon, A pretty border made with a Martha Stewart Punch and some stickles of course.............did you notice that Stickles and Liquid Applique seem to be a main staple for me these days??? and last but not least a Big Old Juicy Ice Brad complete the wintery look of this card!!!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

As quickly as Christmas is coming on, so is the release of the new Stampin' Up! Spring and Summer Collection.

Nursery Necessities was one of the sets available for preorder to Demonstrators. Initially I was a little hesitant to order this set, but my word, I am LOVING it. I can see so much potential for this set in card making and scrapbooking.

I intially thought of Primary Colours when I first looked at the sailboat image. I used markers directly on the rubber to get the range of colours on the stamp. A primitive frame was created with Sewing Maching Stitching (Note: Primitive is a great word to describe a sloppy or amateur attempt at sewing!!! ha ha!!!) The Star image was stamped and then punched out with our New Star Punch!!! Way cool~~ I can see myself using this punch a lot!!!

This card was created for a swap. I was looking to create a card that wasn't too time consuming (particularly because of the due date coming on really fast!!! now you all KNOW that I am a huge procrastinator, but this time, it was a lengthy shipping process that put me under the wire for time!!)

Anyway, I also wanted a card that would be easy to make, yet still attractive. I used the Scallop Circle, Large Star and slot punch to create the Large embellishment. The Boats were stamped tone on tone, with the sentiment stamped over in Blue Bayou.

I really like the way this one turned out and think it would work really well for Birth Announcements.

Elephants on Parade is a long card that is very quick and easy to make. I stamped a line of Elephants and simply added punched and brad embellished flowers over their Trunks.

TIP: When you are stamping multi images in a line, it is a good idea to stamp on a piece of cardstock an inch or two longer than your required size. This way you can cut to size and still manage to have a visually pleasing and well balanced main image.

So, I am officially recuperated and will return to work tomorrow. If you don't hear from me for a day or two.............don't worry, I'll be back.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Yesterday I was sure that I was going to be diligent and committed to the tasks that I had set out for myself. I would not stray........I would stay focused and not get distracted!!!! I had a plan!!!!

Well then I got the brilliant idea that I should go out to check the mailbox.............Bad Idea....well actually not so bad.

There it was deep down in the pile, underneath the various colourful Christmas Cards, the oh so familiar (as of late anyway!!) Cardboardy type Mailer..........I KNEW it just had to be for me!! And there they were, my New My Favorite Things Stamps. If I really was all that committed to forging forward with my endless list of chores, I'd have done the responsible thing and set the package aside for later. But OH NO!!!!!! I had to tear into it, just like a Kid on Christmas...........I purchased a few sets, but this is the one that had me from hello!!! I just couldn't resist getting some ink to it and making this quick little card. Tell me, would you have done the same thing??? And when I saw the sweet little mitten image, I KNEW I had to make a pair to hang from the Snowman's Branch arms.

So it starts again today...............wrapping, dusting a little last minute stocking stuffing shopping............No Stamping........nope, absolutely none.........well not until a little later at least!!

Friday, December 14, 2007

I have had this Pussy Willow image from Sunshine Designs sitting in a drawer for months now and thought it would be a nice subtle image to suit the mood of this card.

Stamping the image on Kraft Paper with Basic Brown Ink, I added some copper highlights to the image and coloured in the blooms with white gel pen. I then sponged over the entire image with Sahara Sand ink to tone down the blooms and add a little depth to the main panel. Using the French Flair stamp with gold encore Ink, I stamped a background on Vanilla Cardstock. Both the main image and the background panel are layered on Baroque Burgundy Cardstock. I wrapped linen thread around a real twig to act as an anchor for my sentiment, which came from the Fancy Flexible Phrases Stamp Set (SU!).

For more Sympathy Card Ideas, Follow the links to my Fellow Challenge Bloggers.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

I know, I know.............I probably sound Horrible for even suggesting that we shouldn't be focusing on Christmas Preparations, but in the spirit of procrastination (well actually, this card has me WAY ahead of schedule). I just needed have a reprieve from Christmas Wrapping, decorating and baking. I spent the good part of my morning addressing and writing little notes in my Christmas cards, which were all handmade this year! (yes, I procrastinated SO much last year that I did have to send out some boxed cards....eek!!!!) and So I thought I would try to come up with a "springish" design today!

I also got my New Catalogue Preorder from Stampin' Up! yesterday and had to try these delicious Rub ons!!! I have to tell you that they are EXCELLENT quality. You might ask if there is a difference between brands of rub ons and the answer is most definitely yes!! Some rub ons are really a challenge to apply while others flake off easily...........these went on quite smoothly and with all pieces in tact. When I open a new package I store them in a Zip Loc type bag. I am not sure if that makes a difference, but I would think that over time, if exposed to air, they may dry out a bit!!! Items in the New Catalogue will be available for purchase on January 2nd. Give me a call to get your copy!

So this is my Hanna Valentine/LOVE card!!!! Unfortunately I the lavender ribbon photographed a little garishly!!! The little kiss and hug border was created with the cutest little Tonic Punch I picked up some time ago. Again, the Rub ons are from Stampin' Up! I cut the Flower in half in order to use it as a border type embellishment, leaving me another half for a rainy day!!! The Sentiment reads "It's a Love thing" The package contains one sheet of White and one sheet of Black Rub ons!!! I created my own "wrapping paper" for the box by shading the sides with an aquapainter and bashful ink, then when dry, doodling in some little hearts. Some Glitter to the Ribbon and Amethyst Pants give this subtle image a little contrast!

Don't forget that this sweet Hanna image is available December 14th!!!!!! Follow the Hanna Icon to order your own set. For more great ideas, follow the links to my DT members Blogs. The cards are all fabulous!!!!!!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Allison from Stampin' when I can! I wish that you all could have won. I used Random.Org which generated the number 7.

If you haven't visited Allison's Blog, you should seriously consider doing so. If you want the scoop on the latest tutorials, tips and give a ways, that is the place to go!!! So Congrats Allison. If you p.m. me your Address, I'll have a little package out to you by Friday!!!!

This is my Extremely Bright Hanna Card for Kaitlyn, a family friend who is celebrating her 12th Birthday on the 24th of December. I wanted to achieve a Cartoon Character look to my image, so I used my SU! Stamp n' write markers directly to watercolour paper. Why bother with Watercolour paper when just colouring you might ask??? Well I find if you work quickly when the markers are wet, you can get a great blend on the paper. In order to do this (see the lighter portions of colour on the ribbon>) I colour the lighter shade of colour onto my image and then quickly blend the darker colour into the lighter colour with loose fluid strokes, almost like painting, blending one colour into the other. I then outlined the image with black marker to emphasize the whole image. DP is from Crate Paper. I used SU Celery, Rose Red and Pumpkin Cardstock. Embellished with Primas, MM Flower Brads and some unknown ribbon from "M's"!

As you know, Hanna's perfect package is being released this Friday Night!!!! Hop on over to the Hanna Site to see what's new!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

I have to admit and if you have been following my blabberings as of late, my brain is in Christmas mode, so everything I do seems to have at the least a hint of Christmas....even my all occasion cards have been in hues of Red and Pomegranate!!!!

So I sat down in the wee hours of the morning and willed myself to do something with a springish theme ( you will learn a WHOLE new vocabulary and "vickiisms" if you stick around here!!!). I also pulled out my sewing machine as I am always admiring the cards that have real stitching on them although I am totally a fan of faux stitching too because it is so easy!!!

Do you like this DP???? It is from Crate Paper. It has the nicest feeling to it...........sort of a rough texture. I used some River Rock and hints of Guava Card ck to pick up the secondary colours in the DP. I used SU! Stamp'n write markers and aquapainters on watercolour paper for the main image with Guava, Celery, Soft Sky and various colours for her hair. The Fancy Border under the main image was created with a Martha Steward border punch!!! I then punched a Large oval in the Polka dotted pattern, a smaller oval in Guava and stamped my sentiment (so many sayings) in Navy on River Rock........

Stay Tuned for more Sneak Peeks before Friday when the perfect package will be released!!!

Monday, December 10, 2007

How Many more Shopping Days until Christmas??? Egad, I anticipated that while home recovering from surgery, I would have a leisurely time preparing for Christmas this year.

Gifts would be purchased and elegantly wrapped, my Christmas cards dutifully mailed out by the 5th of December...........perhaps some baking done.............do you think that this has happened???? NO, Nadda..................not in the LEAST!!!!!

Now in all fairness to myself (and we must treat ourselves well in order to be good for those we love!) I hadn't felt like doing ANYTHING up until about a week ago. But since then, you'd have thought I'd get moving along with things. NOPE!!! All I have been doing is stamping a few things, cleaning up the mess, stamping a few more, cleaning up the mess............well you know how it goes!!!! I did get some nugget boxes completed for little gifties, but I know that they won't be complete without the tags!!!!

Speaking of Tag, I was tagged by Sue who was tagged by Toni, who was tagged by me of course! I rolled on the floor with laughter when Sue came to the deduction that I was responsible for her tagging and then informed me "what goes around comes around" . Now in the spirit of Christmas, I can't bring myself to make you all endure any more funky facts about myself. SO, I am not completing shirking my responsibility to keep the game going..............just freezing it for the moment. I am sure that over the Holidays, I can dream up some other tidbits of information that you will be hanging on the edges of your seat waiting to hear!!!!!!!

And NOW for the Card.....................a double gift card (You can see the awesome tutorial here)In order to "Paper Piece" (that is adding the designer paper on the images) the parts of the stamp that I want to highlight, I stamped the image onto the front of the Designer Paper, cut them out and then ran them through my Xyron Sticker Maker.........you know, the thingy that sat in my closet for three years before I figured out I didn't have to literally have to make a sticker with it, that it comes in handy for all sorts of things!!!!! Then I easily applied the paper pieces to the parts of the image that I wanted. The rest of the image was coloured by picking up the ink from Markers Scribbled onto a CD or in the lid of the inkpad with an aquapainter.Primas, SU! Brads and our great punches round out the final design.

Cardstock: Celery, Dasher and Rose Red Designer Paper, Wild Wasabi and Pomegranite Cardstock, all from SU!!!!!Images: Perfect Package-Hanna Stamps: you can get this new Hanna on FRIDAY over at Hanna Stamps!!!! Just follow the link on the Hanna icon and check out Kristi's fabulous Hanna website!!!!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Here is a Sneak Peek of what you can expect in the new Hanna Stamp Set "The Perfect Package" which will be release THIS FRIDAY!!!! YEP, THIS FRIDAY. Let me tell you, these sets just keep getting better and Better!!!!

This card is a Pocket Card and was also inspired by Charlene "LilLuvsStampin"" I used Cerise DP from SU as well as all sorts of punches and accessories..................

Also I have been Tagged by a Texas Grammy!!! It's not everyday that happens and all the way from Texas to boot!!!! I am so blessed to be on the Hanna Design Team with Bev. Check out her Gallery by Following the Link on the sidebar........you WON'T be disappointed. So here goes:

Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Seven things about me that I am sure that you didn't know and probably wish that you hadn't heard!!!!!

I have spent the last 7.5 weeks at home growing fingernails!! NO SERIOUSLY.........big honkin strong back scratching nails!!! I have NEVER had fingernails............nope, not a one. They are usually non existent, paper thin and have flaked off!!! Really, the down side to this is that I now have a line up in my household (please let me clarify that this is a G rated conversation!) lining up for back scratches. PLEASSE don't inform the neighbourhood dogs, they'll all be over wagging their tails and looking for a little scratch behind their mangy ears!!!

I used to put Peanut Butter on my Hotdogs..............Yes, I am really going out there and spilling it all......................it is quite tasty actually and then I had to start pretending that I was all grown up, so it's Green Relish and Cheese Whiz now!!!

I am a DIET PEPSI holic.....................yes, I am embarrassed to admit that it is my morning ambrosia.............whether it's right out of the bottle or served in a fine glass with ice.........I can't get enough of it.

Did I mention I am not only addicted to Rubbah, but to Acrylic as well!

I KNOW that you all just want to know this one!!! I can light a cigarette lighter with my toes! (and NO, I refuse to elaborate!!!)

Gosh, I am running out of oddities to share..............maybe I should give you the email addresses of a few close friends!!!!!

When I grow up, I want to be Like a Texas Grammy (In a Stetson of course.........ya know my mom went to Texas and bought me a Beautiful Stetson, but it is too small for my Pumpkin head...........oops, rambling again!!!) and overcome my propensity for sweets!!!

And now for my Victims.............well, what I really mean is the peeps that I want to play tag with today:

Seriously, check out these ladies Blogs. They are fellow Bloggers Challenge Club members and they are a creative and talented stamp artists

If you are still reading, I am offering Blog Candy one post down. Now I know that a lot of you have the stamp set already,,,,,,,,,,but there will be some other surprises in the package and you could always use the set for BLOG CANDY!!!!!!

I am SO excited that I still haven't come down!!!! As I mentioned on my last post, I had created the Santa card for a My Favorite Things Guest Designer Contest!!! Well Guess what???? I WON!!!! I won ! I won! I WON!!!! I WON!!!! (can you tell that I am STILL a little excited????????)

So I get to be a GUEST Designer for January for the yet to be released stamps. Now HOW exciting is that!!!!! It was a THRILLING day in my Stamping Palace!!!!

Now normally, I just don't have the greatest luck, in fact I couldn't win a jig for an Orphan Pig......although once I won a half ton of Compost............yep, Black Gold..............recycled poop!!!! Let me tell you, it was nice for the garden, but I really was less than thrilled about it. I couldn't wear it, spend it or even sell it!!!!! But I was secretly a little excited because I did win something. I buy the odd lotto ticket, but haven't won anything more than 10 bucks!!! So now I feel as if I have HIT THE JACKPOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!

I am also very happy to see that I have almost 25, 000 hits on my site!!! That excites me too!!!!!

So as I bask in the glow of winning something meaningful, I would like to share the wealth with you!!!!

I have a little stamping package available for the winner, to be drawn on Tuesday. I would LOVE to hear your comments about the best or worse thing that you have won! Check back Wednesday morning to see if YOU are a WINNER!!!!!

I have the Very Punny Stamp Set from Stampin' Up!!! , Which was used to create This Cardas well as some ribbon and other neat little goodies!!!!!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

The Challenge for this week was to complete a card using watercolour techniques. Wanting to kill two birds with one stone, I also used this card for a SCS Challenge which was to create an Artists Trading Card and then incorporate it into a larger card.

Inspired by the wonderful watercolours of fellow Bloggers Challenge and Hanna Stamps design team member Anna Wight I have tried to adopt a similar style when watercolouring with markers and reinkers!!

The ATC was created with the Naughty but Nice Stamp as well as SO Many Sayings. I made a small tag with the Word window punch, layering the Olive onto the Burgundy and trimming a small border. Liquid Applique creates an illusion of fluffy snowflakes!

Layers of Imaginsce DP, Burgundy and Olive Cardstock, along with some coordinating Ribbon and a matching prima complete this Jolly old elf!!!!

Follow me to the links on my sidebar to see my fellow members watercolour creations!!!!

Monday, December 3, 2007

Only TWO of my Favourite Stampers in the whole wide world!!! If you have been following my blog for some time or are a Subscriber to the Dirty Dozen Design team Gallery, then you will be familiar with these former Dirty Girls!!!!!

So in honour of welcoming them to the team, I created this card for the JBWW that they host each weekend, using Hanna's Mistletoe of course. Even Sharks need a little Christmas Love Baby!!!!

Are you a fan of this stamp?? If so, you only have another 27 days to purchase it. Silly Sealifewill only be available until December 30th, when it will retire in order to make way for all sorts of new sets, available in the Spring and Summer Idea Book and Catalogue, Launching on January 2nd. You can view the Retirement List in its entirety HERE.

The Cute little mistletoe comes from Hanna Stamps-'Tis the SeasonI cut the circular shaped cards and used the cuttlebug embossing template to add texture to the base layer. The "Fish Bowl" was also cut with a circular cutter and trimmed at the top with Scallop Designer Scissors (Boy I had to blow the dust of these baby's!!!) I sponged Blue Sky and Cool Caribbean around the embossed imaged to create the water and sprinkled on some Magic Scraps Sand for the Bottom. The sharks were painted with Markers and Aquapainters and a little stickles just for good measure.

So Thank you Kristi for bringing Sherry and Jeanne on Board and Thanks Ladies for saying Yes!!!!! If you pop on over to their blogs, you can see some awesome Hanna cards already!!!!!